machina
2021
program diagram
This project is inspired by the industrial history of Britannia Beach. Although Lower Britannia will be redeveloped into an affluent community, we decided to approach this site with a steampunk attitude in mind because as Kathe Hicks Albrecht states in The Machine Anxieties of Steampunk: Contemporary Philosophy, Neo-Victorian Aesthetics, and Futurism, “steampunk acts autonomously and forges an independent path, rejecting some aspects of current thinking,” particularly the thought around building forms in the redevelopment plan for Lower Britannia. The industrial language found within the Britannia Beach mine initiated our exploration into high-tech design. It had us question what high-tech design looks like in Britannia Beach, what the human’s place is in a high-tech world, and what becomes of the human’s role in future landscapes.
Machina is divided into 3 experiences that can be shared between both the human and non-human. The first involves the idea of storing: both people and water. The second is about generating or gathering; a component with many interactive opportunities as well as a water wheel. The third experience is bathing. A single circulation pipe connects the three experiences and altogether this produces our machine. Machina aims to emphasize the machinery experience and atmosphere, which we shape spaces using pipes and industrial components. People would interact with pipes and water in different scales and strategies.
concept diagram
entrance
brick paving as a hardscape on the site, with ponds located next to the front pipe entrances and corridor, to balance the tension between artificial and natural elements.
pipe corridor
The pipe corridor connects the community hall which has private entrances from the park. Separating the community hall and the gathering space here is a water wheel. Continuing within the pipe leads guests into the bathhouse where the pipe forms the warm, hot, and cold baths, the sauna and steam room, and at the end of the pipe corridor is a tea room. People circulate through the pipes to different spaces. the intent of designing the pipe corridor is designed as a more enclosed space compared to the community hall, hotel, and bathhouse, as we aim to create a contrast between dark and light, open and enclosed.
creekside brickyard
An oversized downspout wraps around the hotel balconies and leads to the creekside plaza to create a water park for people to experience and interact with the industrial components and water in summer with a view of the creek. people need to turn the wheels to operate the waterfall.
concept sketch of the hotel
approaching hotel from the front entrance
The pond, and the greenery from the courtyard blend with the industrial structure and welcome humans and non-human to Machina.
water cistern
The hotel is on the western end of the site and is made up of 9 distinct squares, each serving a different purpose, including the reception, a gallery, stairs, and elevator, and in the middle is the home of the cisterns. Walking from the lobby through this passage brings visitors to the bar. Guests can also walk through here entering the pipe corridor. Displaying the translucent cisterns in the hotel core refracts sunlight, and celebrates the action of storing water and creating a visual interaction for people that living and the water that is stored there.
community hall
Because of present-day machines, people are more commonly disconnected from the process of making and doing since people only have to press a button (or another simple action) and the machine does the work. Therefore, this building challenges anti-autonomous trends and encourages humans to interact with the building in order to become an integral cog of the machine. Therefore in the community hall, to operate the doors to the backyard, people have to crank the wheels. As the main hub and also a transition space, people would experience the waterwheel, as well the radiant heating and cooling pipes that are displayed under resin finish on the floor. The community hall has double structures to expose and celebrate the cantilevered steel trusses system which holds up the roof industrial garden and catwalk, while the inner structural steel system is cladding with translucent back-lit glass panels to create a glowing effect as well as to imply a sense of generator.
rooftop garden
On the third plan, a catwalk that connects the hotel to the rooftop industrial garden.
pipe bar
celebrating pipes through beverage machine in the bar, we assembly an industrial experience that people are drinking as part of the machine.
bathhouse - pool
Similar to the Community Hall, the Bath is an area where humans, water, and machine interact for a shared experience. Upon exiting the narrow pipe from the changeroom, guests are led into a spacious, bright, albeit steamy bathing area. Guests are greeted by the habitable steel truss system where visitors can rest on the plinth on which the trusses are secured and skylights exist at the tops of each truss terminus.
bathhouse - shower
Within the center of the bathing area are the showers. Guests will have to pull on a lever system to release water. In terms of materiality, the interior of the bath is cladded with burnt copper steel panels, while the pipe corridor is cladded with a heat forged hot rolled steel cladding in a carmine red colour. To form the pool itself, a fibreglass mould is placed on top of the concrete slab and is coated with a gel coat. So what does High-tech design in Britannia Beach look like? Nestled between the ocean and mountains, Machina uses industrial language to inform the design of the building while allowing the non-human world a chance to experience the space as well. As mentioned, there is a disconnect between the process of making and doing, so Britannia Beach High-Tech design encourages the human to become a part of the machine rather than just a user.
tea space
By the act of releasing tea into a cup from a pipe. By the act of participating in the machine, Machina seeks opportunities for people to interact with it and it’s through these acts where individuals can appreciate what a machine does.
community hall section
community hall detail
bathhouse section
bathouse detail
hotel plan + section
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